


1, 2, 3, 4 (tell me that you love me more)

by may_tricks



Category: Faking It (TV 2014)
Genre: F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Mutual Pining, Slow Build, kissing lots and lots of kissing, one or two homophobic slurs are said
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-25
Updated: 2014-04-25
Packaged: 2018-01-20 17:37:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,679
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1519373
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/may_tricks/pseuds/may_tricks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lightning can strike the same place more than once as long as you don’t move. Karma and Amy kiss when no one's watching.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1, 2, 3, 4 (tell me that you love me more)

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Faking It, nor "1,2,3,4" by Feist.

**1.**

Karma pecks Amy on the cheek before rushing off to class.

It leaves Amy momentarily stunned, like she’s been tasered.

She’s heard the saying before, ‘lightning never strikes the same place twice’ but Amy wonders if maybe that was just common sense? If you were struck once wouldn't you just move away? More than likely, the reason no one has been hit in the same place again is because they ran so far away after the first time. Karma’s the one fleeing the scene though, on her way to class, leaving Amy in her wake.

Decidedly, Amy tries not to think of why she doesn't move right away, as if she’s waiting to see if the expression is true.

 

**2.**

Amy kisses Karma soft and sweet in the in their high school gymnasium.

It’s like the final scene in a teen movie where the couple everyone was rooting for finally gets together in the end. Amy and Karma are kissing. They’re kissing and kissing and kissing. It feels like someone lit Amy up from the inside out, it feels like Karma always dreamed a first kiss would.

When they kiss that first time in the gym, they’re surrounded by virtual strangers, people who are only interested because they’re here and they’re queer and all that rah rah rah stuff. But there’s confetti in Amy’s hair that makes Karma think she’s embarrassingly, insultingly beautiful. And Karma is so soft that Amy thinks she may never be able to stop touching her.

The first time they kiss on the lips, Amy is exhilarated and terrified and wants to fall through the floor.

The first time they kiss on the lips, Karma can’t think straight, just breathes out a “whoa,” because _whoa._

 

**3.**

Amy kisses Karma in the quad during lunch with the whole school chanting _“Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!”_

It’s only their second kiss but already Amy is more confident, pressing firmer and parting her lips as to grant Karma more access to her mouth. There’s no confetti this time and although they’re doing this in the middle of campus with everyone cheering them on, it’s still less of a spectacle. They were just having lunch, goofing around like usual, and now they’re kissing.

When they break apart, Amy looks less like her world just exploded but still freaked out. Karma is willing to chalk that up to the fact that they just locked lips in front of the entire student body—again. That being said, Karma still can’t help but wonder why the first coherent thought she had after Amy shifted away was whoa.

 

**4\. + 5.**

Karma kisses Amy in her bed when there’s no one around to impress.

“We should practice.” Karma announces as Amy settles underneath the blankets beside her.

“Practice what?” Amy asks, already exhausted with Karma’s antics. It’s too early for this shit; Amy wants to sleep.

Karma sighs and rolls on to her belly; Amy can be so oblivious sometimes. “Kissing, stupid. What else?”

“You’re impossible.” Amy mutters in that kind of annoyed way that says she’s unimpressed with Karma’s lack of giving a shit but not pissed enough to shut her down completely.

Karma, who’s now lying on her side and turned towards Amy, sees that her friend’s shirt is riding up. When opportunity knocks Karma seizes it. She kisses the exposed skin and smirks when Amy practically jumps a foot. Taking advantage of the other girl’s sudden shock, Karma climbs atop her and ducks her head low so their lips are barely brushing.

“I just had a mint so at least if I’m an awful kisser my breath won’t smell bad.”

They kiss for a minute, maybe two, before they break apart. Amy doesn’t tell Karma that she has nothing to worry about, that she has good breath and she’s a good kisser. Instead, she lets Karma convince her that they need to keep rehearsing. The pace should be right, she insists, and the tempo.

“The tempo? Where’d you learn that? _Cosmo?”_ Amy crows, all high and mighty and amused and making fun of Karma, _rude!_ But her lips red from exertion and her cheeks are flushed, and Karma would be lying if she said it didn’t look good.

Grinning stupidly and telling Amy to “shove it,” Karma moves in for another kiss.

 

**6.**

Amy kisses Karma hard on the mouth the first time she gets drunk.

It’s sudden and sure. Her breath reeks of tequila and her hands are trembling, pushing Karma’s hair out of her face so she can make eye contact because very suddenly that seems important. They kiss messily, drunkenly, eagerly. They’re swapping saliva on the porch in Shane’s backyard, there are people mulling around with plastic cups and beer bottles in hand. Some of them cheer the girls on with the kind of enthusiasm only happy drunks can muster.

For the first time, Karma doesn't think about what everyone else is going to think. She doesn't care if no one is watching at all. She just wants to keep her hands on Amy’s thighs, her lips on her neck. The taste is strange because Amy tastes like tequila and Karma reeks of vodka. It’s not horrible though, in fact they kiss until someone comes stumbling out the French patio doors, throwing themselves over the deck railing so they can puke on the rose bushes.

“I’m _so drunk_ right now,” Amy slurs once she and Karma have split apart, her limbs too loose as she sways sitting down.

“I bet I could run a mile right now. Dare me to run a mile and I’ll do it! _Dare me, Kaaarmaaa. Dare me!”_

 _“No, no, no,”_ Karma decides though her words are staggered. They don’t feel like they belong to her, if that makes any sense? They don’t fit in her mouth so she pushes them out quickly, awkwardly.

“You don’t even have running shoes. We’ll go shopping!”

Nodding along agreeably, Amy reaches into her pocket for her phone and finds a missed message from Lauren: _get your fake gay ass home by 2 or your mom is going to be pissed. PS: thanks for eating the rest of the ice cream sandwiches, bitch_.

“Uh-oh,”Amy comments sarcastically. “The wicked witch of the west has a broomstick lodged up her ass.”

Wide, glassy eyes look up at Amy. Karma is wasted. “Your mom or Lauren?”

Choking in laughter, Amy punches Karma jokingly. “Both. Lauren. I got to get home. Want to come?”

 _Of course,_ Karma thinks, and apparently she’s spoken aloud because Amy is dragging her out of the backyard so they can start walking the couple blocks from the house party back to her place. The next morning with twin hangovers, neither girl mentions the night before

 

**7.**

Karma kisses Amy so slowly that Amy actually thinks the Earth stops spinning on its axis.

They’re barefoot in Amy and Lauren’s shared bathroom, kissing so painstakingly slow that Karma can feel her heartbeat out of sync. In science class they studied the human heart. She thinks of the material on the last pop quiz, how you can save someone’s life to the beat of _Staying Alive._ She wonders how, upon waking up in the ER, she’d ever explain that she had a heart attack from kissing Amy Raudenfeld.

It also doesn’t help that if Karma did actually go into cardiac arrest right now she’d be half naked. It’s not as if she and Amy have reached this level of commitment to the fake gay dating thing yet. No, Amy was just helping her into her dress, doing up the zipper for her. To be honest though, Karma’s not entirely certain how they went from “hey, can you stop checking out Chris Pine’s ass and come zip me up?” to ‘let’s kiss in my bathroom while the Star Trek reboot plays in the background.’  
Not that she’s complaining about it though.

When they come back to themselves long enough to stop kissing, Karma tries to tamp down her nerves. Amy doesn’t meet her eye, just turns around and asks Karma to do up the dress. When she turns around, Amy looks nervous but for a split second catches Karma’s gaze.

“What do you think?”

She’s chewing her lower lip, the one Karma just kissed. She knows how soft it is even when it’s sticky with the lip gloss Karma lent her.

“Kate Middleton can eat her heart out,” Karma assures with a genuine smile. “Ready to go?”

With a put upon sigh, Amy collects her belongings. “I still can’t believe you talked me into this.”

Hooking her arm in Amy’s, Karma smirks at her friend. “It’ll be worth it when you get to see the look on Lauren’s face when you’re named queen.”  
They don’t talk about the kiss after that.

 

**8\. + 9. + 10.**

“We are proud to announce Hester High’s 2014 Homecoming royalty: Amy Raudenfeld and Karma Ashcroft!” Principal Penelope announces, her smile broad as the two girls make their way through the crowd.

Karma takes the tiara and smirks when she delicately places the crown atop Amy’s head. The room is alive with noise and movement, everyone applauding and cheering them on.  
“I think we’re supposed to kiss now,” Karma murmurs but Amy is already swaying close, her lips catching the end of Karma’s suggestion.

They kiss chastely, appropriately, but they drag it out a whole minute before separating. The audience’s excitement hasn’t subsided and looking across the room, Karma thinks she got exactly what she wanted: popularity, to kiss Liam, to stay best friends with Amy. But she got a lot more than what she bargained for too. She sees Liam in the crowd, who’s standing with Shane and Ivy, nursing a drink. He’s cute, especially all dressed up, and Karma remembers how kissing Liam felt exactly how she always imagined it would. But Amy’s beside her with their fingers interlaced, and she can’t help but wonder when she stopped thinking that being blown away by Amy’s beauty was weird. Years ago, Karma realizes.

“Time for your first dance as Homecoming Queens,” Penelope advises the girls, urging them on to the dance floor with an enthusiastic smile.

A slow song starts up as Karma guides Amy into the space the crowd as carved out for them. They press close enough together that they can feel heat radiating off the other but not so close that it looks inappropriate for a first, romantic dance. Amy leads, which throws Karma for a loop. She didn’t expect her to because of her hesitance towards the whole fake dating debacle, and yet here she is comfortably moving with Karma like they do this every day. Smiling, Karma rest her chin on Amy’s shoulder and kisses the nape of her neck. Amy always smells incredible and it’s not just her shampoo because when Karma sleepovers and has to borrow it never smells as nice as Amy does.

It’s not until later—when they’re dancing to a much quicker song, doing all the stupid moves they made up in Karma’s living room when they played the stereo loud enough for the neighbours to complain—that Karma smiles cockily at Amy.

“What?” Amy asks but there’s a joking edge to it. Like she’s accusing Karma of keeping a secret but knows Karma’s joking. “I got you the popularity and Homecoming Queen. You owe me.”

“Extortion!” Karma accuses, faux-offended.

Rolling her eyes, Amy dips her close to the floor. “I’ll drop you flat on your non-existent ass, Ashcroft.”

Karma tightens her hold on Amy so in case she decides it’ll be funny to watch her collapse on the floor then at least she’ll be dragged down too. _“Worst girlfriend ever!”_

“Yeah right,” Amy snorts as she captures Karma’s lower lip between her teeth.

 

**11.**

They’re hiding out in Amy’s basement while the Coopers-Raudenfelds host Thanksgiving dinner upstairs. Notably, Karma wasn’t so much as invited as Amy expected her to come and Karma expected Amy expected would come. Apparently, neither Amy’s mother nor future step-father had expected as much.

“Oh, Karma. You’re here.” Amy’s mother stated plainly when she opened the front door to find her daughter’s friend on her front porch.

Karma doesn’t let the woman’s aloofness bother her, after the local news crashed Homecoming, she’s been skating on thin ice around Ms. Raudenfeld and she doesn’t want to start drowning now. Instead, Karma offers her best friend / fake girlfriend’s mother a homemade apple crisp she and her mother had made. Her gam-gam’s recipe.

“Amy should be around somewhere.” Ms. Raudenfeld notes as she accepts the dessert. “Maybe Lauren knows.”

It’s a very near thing but Karma manages to school her expression at the mention of the bobblehead blonde, as she and Amy had nicknamed her. After peeling off her jacket and kicking off her shoes, Karma wonders if Amy would be up in her room or if that was too obvious a hiding spot. Thankfully, she’s saved the trouble of hunting her friend down when Amy’s ascends the stairs from the basement.

“Come here,” she whispers sharply and who is Karma to deny her?

The basement is partially finished with carpeting in one section where an old couch and coffee table are located. When Amy’s parents divorced her father left with as little fuss as possible, meaning he left behind a lot of furniture, none of which Amy’s mother wanted. Amy remembers being dragged shop to shop in search of a new couch, a loveseat, preferring style over comfort. On the “new” couch—which is like six years old by now, wow, the couch is already in the first grade—Amy isn’t allowed to wear jeans because she might damage the material. So when she wants to collapse somewhere other than bed, Amy sneaks down into the basement and crashes on the “old” couch. Now, she and Karma are sitting on the couch, watching Youtube videos on Karma’s phone.

 _“Oh my god,”_ Karma wheezes between fits of laughter. “You snort when you laugh.”

Poking at Karma’s ribs, Amy smirks. “You’re on to talk; you pee yourself laughing!”

“Once and it was in the second grade!” She argues but it’s moot, Amy is ignoring her anyway. She’s got her hands around Karma’s ribs, feather light. “Oh no no no, Aims. You know I’m ticklish.”

“Are you?” Amy asks like butter wouldn’t melt in her mouth. Actually, Amy’s mouth looks incredible. But that’s not the point, the point is that Karma is ticklish and Amy is cruel. Her fingers are tracing over Karma’s belly, around her ribs, and her hips. Breathless, choking on laughter, Karma thrashes below Amy until Amy stops long enough to lay herself flat.

“Are you going to pee yourself again?” She murmurs, eyes dancing.

“If you’re not careful.” Karma rebuts, one hand cupping Amy’s head while her free hand combs through her blonde hair.

“You’re gross,” Amy states plainly although her eyes are dancing. The colour is incredible, clear and bright, and Karma can’t help but lean in just enough so that they’re not quite kissing and then they are.

She’s not sure how long she and Amy are kissing. To be quite honest, Karma’s only somewhat aware of the fact that just one level above Amy’s entire family is celebrating the holiday. Conversation floats down through the vents but it’s not disruptive enough to keep Karma from sliding her tongue against Amy’s, to stop her from tangling her hand in Amy’s long blonde tresses, to make her realize that Lauren is bounding down the basement stairs.

 _“Disgusting.”_ Lauren spits, her mouth twisted into a scowl and eyes burning with rage. “You fucking dykes.”

Tearing her mouth away from Karma’s, Amy looks up at Lauren with wide, frightened, angry eyes. She can’t think of much to say that will adequately express her frustration, a combination of no longer kissing Karma and now having to deal with her future step-sister from Hell.

“This is disgusting? I’ve heard you take a dump from another _floor_ of the house. You sound like someone is disemboweling a small animal when you go to the bathroom.”

Beneath her, Karma shakes with barely concealed laughter and there’s no word for how unbelievably outraged Lauren is. If she thinks if Lauren were a cartoon character there would be steam blowing out both ears.

“Dinner’s ready and your weather girl of a mother wants you to make an appearance. Personally, I think she should keep you down here just to protect the rest of civilized society.”

  
Storming upstairs, Lauren leaves Amy and Karma alone in the basement to sort themselves out.

“She’s going to be your sister soon.” Karma points out as she adjusts her outfit.

“Ugh, don’t remind me.” Amy grunts as she flattens her rumpled hair.

Climbing the stairs, ignoring the way her body feel electric, Karma turns back to look at Amy trailing behind her. “Get your lazy ass in gear, Raudenfeld; I want to eat my body mass in stuffing.”

 

**12.**

It’s almost Christmas and Karma is crazy about celebrating.

Every year the Ashcroft house looks like Santa’s Village in the center of the mall. There’s a beautiful, real tree in the living room and pine needles all over the floor despite the fact that Karma and her mom always lay out a skirt beneath the tree to catch the debris. They spend an afternoon stringing lights and arguing over how the ornaments should be hung.

They also go shopping with Ivy, Shane, Liam, and some of their friends who Karma and Amy started hanging out with at school sometimes, and occasionally on the weekend. Shane’s group isn't all bad, although it took some time for Amy to warm up to them. She’s still at odds with Liam, who often checks out Amy when Amy isn’t looking but more so when Amy is looking. She gets along well with Ivy, who is more down to earth than the outspoken, over the top group. Plus, Ivy and Amy share a couple classes so they bond over school assignments and their shared love of trivia.

This year they’re invited to Shane’s low key—well, he insists it is low key but Amy feels like anything more than fifteen people cannot be considered low key—holiday party. Karma and Amy get ready together at Karma’s place, finishing wrapping their gifts and packing up the desserts they made as their contribution to the potluck dinner. When they arrive, Shane greets them with kisses on the cheeks and champagne his parents let him serve even though they’re all grossly underage.

“We match!” Karma squeals as she takes in Shane’s outfit.

Striped knee socks, red shirt with green piping, and an elf’s hat. Shane is the only person Amy knows that can match Karma’s enthusiasm for Christmas. She’s glad Karma gets to experience having other friends—a normal social life—even if they had to pretend to do it.

“Look who got caught under the mistletoe,” Shane teases, his attention only briefly directed at Amy.

He knows about the fake gay thing and that it’s not so fake for Amy anymore. He can be obnoxiously pressing this way, trying to play Cupid, but there are people here who don’t know the whole story and now they expect Karma and Amy to kiss.

Amy knows this role and as she shifts towards Karma, she’s surprised to find Karma already parting her lips as if she was expecting that this would happen. They kiss for maybe half a minute before the doorbell rings again and everyone needs to move out of the foyer so they can let more guests inside.

 

**13.**

They’re at Liam’s house for New Year’s because Shane’s parents are hosting a huge gathering.

It’s a huge bash—practically everyone from who doesn't have family plans made it tonight—but the room is still with anticipation. On the massive flat screen TV in the basement, everyone is gathered around watching the news as ball is being dropped in Times Square.

_“Ten!”_

Karma reaches for Amy’s hand.

_“Nine!”_

Amy shuffles closer to Karma.

_“Eight!”_

Karma squeeze Amy’s hand.

_“Seven!”_

Amy inhales sharply.

_“Six!”_

Karma misses Liam trying to catch her eye.

_“Five!”_

Amy can feel her heart in her throat.

_“Four!”_

Karma’s palm is sweating.

_“Three!”_

Amy licks her lips, a nervous habit.

_“Two!”_

Karma tilts Amy’s chin closer.

_“One! Happy new year!”_

They kiss until the mass of bodies around them start moving again, forgetting the countdown and returning to celebrating with cheap alcohol and loud music.

“Happy new year, Aims.” Karm whispers.

“Happy new year, Karm.” Amy agrees.

 

**13\. + 14. + 15. + 16. + 17.**

Karma drops kisses on Amy’s cheek when their team wins the tie breaking round of dodgeball in PE.

She also kisses Amy on the nose when Amy shows up to her cheerleading tryouts.

After a football game where Karma got to debut her cheerleading prowess, Amy wraps her up in a hug and drops a kiss on the crown of her head.

Two weeks later, Amy catches Karma’s wrist right as she trying to land a joking punch, turns her wrist up and presses a kiss to the vein she sees there.

A week afterward, Karma kisses Amy on the forehead when Amy whines about not wanting to do a presentation in front of the class.

 

**18.**

Amy’s mother permits Karma’s attendance to her wedding under the provision that Karma and Amy keep it “clean.”

As far as Amy knows, Lauren and her boyfriend are given no such warning. Rather than get worked up though, Amy decides to look on the bright side. She won’t have to suffer through the ceremony or reception alone. Sure, she’ll have extended family there and she gets along fine with most of her cousins, but she’d still prefer to have Karma by her side.

In the Church, Karma and Amy hold hands while no one is looking. Lauren doesn’t even comment, too engrossed in the ceremony. At the reception, Amy introduces Karma to the family members she hasn’t met already, and is thoroughly embarrassed when her cousins launch into a thousand different stories of stupid shit she did and never told Karma about. When _Cha Cha Slide_ comes on, they start dancing and don’t stop for the next hour, giddily rocking out to every song that comes on. No one says anything because a lot of people don’t know about Karma and Amy and Homecoming and fake dating and everything thing else that led up to the point where Amy and Karma went from “oh, we’re not gay” to impromptu make out sessions.

“Follow me,” Amy instructs and Karma looks around superstitiously, in case the new Mrs. Raudenfeld-Cooper is hanging around. When the coast is clear, Karma falls into step beside her friend.

Karma isn’t sure where they’re going but it involves a lot of waking through grass, which isn't exactly conducive with heels that sink into the soft earth with each step. Still, she bunches her dress up so the fabric doesn’t accidentally drag through the dirt.

“Where are we going?”

Amy smirks, “It’s a surprise.”

Karma frowns and her eyebrows knit together. “Are your parents going to hate me anymore than they already do?”

“I don't think that's entirely possible at this point.” Amy points out and well _yeah,_ Karma can’t really argue with that.

“We’re here.” Amy announces with a sweeping arm gesture.

As it turns out, _here_ is nowhere. They’re in a secluded area far enough from the wedding reception that they can barely make out the loud thrum of music. All around them is grass and trees, which while beautiful in its simplicity, doesn't have an all you can eat buffet or a desserts table or even any real light and it’s getting late now, the sky is so dark.

“Wow, this is a real paradise. I hope you didn't go to a travel agent for this, Raudenfeld-Cooper.”

Convincing in her annoyance, Amy rolls her eyes and tells Karma, “”If you value your life you will literally never call me that again.”

“Okay, okay, don’t get your panties in bunch.” Amy is so easy to rile up, it’s really precious. “What are we doing out here anyway? I mean other than to my inevitable death because this a little bit sketchy, just saying."

 _So dramatic,_ Amy thinks fondly. Then she lifts up her open palm. “Dance with me.”

Surprised— _very, oh really now?_ —Karma lifts a single eyebrow at the outstretch hand. “Demanding much?”

“Unbelievable,” Amy huffs because seriously? She’s trying to do something here and Karma is being her usual difficult, adorable self. She tries again.

“Karma Ashcroft, may I please have this dance?”

“There’s no music.” Karma notes but her tone is light and she’s pressing down a smile.

Amy takes her hand anyway. “I could sing _Baby Got Back.”_

The worst part about that comment is that Amy is being entirely honest since she’s known the lyrics forever. Plus it’s pretty much the only song that she knows all the words to without fucking up. Falling into step of their makeshift dance, Karma pulls a face like she’s physically uncomfortable with the thought.

“Please don’t.”

They dance for a little while, talking in lieu of music, taking turns leading.

“I like that colour of lipstick on you,” Karma states matter of fact.

Amy isn’t paying attention, of course she isn’t she’s too busy focusing on the warmth of Karma so close. “Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” she confirms as she closes the distance between their lips with a kiss.

 

**19.**

“Flight or mind reading?”

“I’m never going to get a car so flight.”

“You could never wear skirts or dresses.”

“I could wear shorts underneath!”

“Fair. Super speed or super strength?”

“Can I do everything quickly or just run?”

“Everything but super strength means emotional strength too.”

_“Deep.”_

“Answer the question, Raudenfeld.”

“Speed, I guess. It’d probably be more useful. But if you chose speed you'd still be late for everything.”

“I’m not late, everyone else is just early.”

“Okay, _Princess Diaries._ ”

“Best film ever!”

“Doubtful. Why do you always choose such obvious powers, anyway?”

“Oh like you could do any better.”

“Always have the perfect amount of change or literally never have a bad hair day?”

“Those aren’t super powers.”

“I’m sorry, officer. I forgot I was speaking with the super power police. I answered your questions.”

“Perfect hair. If you have perfect hair people will probably give you things for free.”

“Wow, what an optimistic worldview.”

“One to talk. Extremely graceful—like you never stub your tow or bump your elbow ever again—or amazing memory?”

“Now _that’s_ a tricky one. Memory, probably. I’d never fail a test again.”

“You’ve never failed a test in the first place.”

“And I’d like to keep it that way. Can only make out or have sex to the Nickelback discography or only eat day old McDonalds forever?”

“Satanist.”

“Do you forfeit?”

“Never.”

“So which is it?”

“McDonalds. I’d eat stale, cold French fries before I cum to _Photograph._ ”

“I have negative amounts of understanding on why the Chad guy and Avril Lavigne got together.”

“Your turn, Raudenfeld.”

“Bring it, Ashcroft.”

“Kissing me or kissing the Chad guy from Nickelback.”

“Egomaniac.”

“Do you forfeit?”

“You. I’d choose you over the Chad guy from NIckelback.”

“I’m honoured.”

“What about you? Make out with me or Avril Lavigne’s husband?”

“Narcissist.”

“It’s a game of choose. You’ve got to choose.”

“You. I’d choose you.”

“I’m flattered. I’m 99.99% sure I’m a better kisser anyway.”

“Is that peer reviewed data?”

“You tell me.”

They don’t get to the next choose for a while.

 

**20.**

Liam flirts with Karma even though when she looks at him now she doesn’t see that same dreamy boy from before. Now she sees a good friend of Shane’s and Ivy’s, a complete idiot who thinks girls are hot when they don’t want him, and a person who cries at the end of feel good movies and knows all the words to Bohemian Rhapsody. He’s a flawed person, Karma knows, but he has his quality moments. Too bad she’s not interested him. Liam, however, doesn’t always get this. And neither does Amy, for that matter.

They’re in the middle of a fight—well it’s not really a fight. It’s more Amy blowing up about something Liam did (try to ask Karma out) and Karma trying to calm Amy down before she completely erupts.

“You’re not interested, are you?” Amy asks, her expression a mosaic of frustration and anger and fear?

Karma reaches for Amy’s hand, tells herself not to be offended when Amy stiffens and only relaxes after her initial upset has worn. “Would I be here if I were?”

And she’s been here since that first day of school when Shane and Liam mistook her and Amy for lesbians. It’s been nearly a whole school year and she’s still here and she doesn’t know why that is except that there’s nowhere else she rather be right now. Of course, she and Amy haven’t discussed this at all. They don’t talk about any of it. In the beginning they couldn’t shut up about the fake gay dating thing but now it’s this unspoken of thing. Karma wonders if it’s because what’s happening is too bizarre to explain or because it’s so natural they don’t need to.

At least, sometimes it feels natural. Other times, these times, it feels like there are too many words knotted up in her throat. She can’t tell Amy that when she looks at Liam she thinks he’s cute in an obvious way and when she looks at Amy she thinks she’s beautiful in a way that makes Karma wonder if Amy is even a real person. She looks photoshopped, like a model in a magazine, and it takes Karma’s breath away. But she doesn’t tell Amy that because how can she without changing everything, all over again. Besides, Amy must know Karma thinks she’s embarrassingly attractive.

“No, you wouldn’t.” Amy concedes on an exhale. Before Karma has the chance to rub being right in her best friend’s face, she feels herself being propelled onto her back with Amy moving atop her.

She kisses Karma hard, hungrily. Her eyes squeezed shut the whole time she delves her tongue deeper into Karma’s mouth, her hands pinning her shoulders. Minutes pass before Amy reels backward, her face flushed red, and eyes stunned, as if she can’t imagine she just ravaged her best friend’s mouth, her neck, her ear. Speechless, she looks to Karma, who wants to show how amused she is but can’t get past the fact that there is a sudden, incredible heat between her thighs she can’t quell.

 

**21\. + 22. + 23. + 24. + 25.**

Amy’s house is empty this weekend.

Her mother, step-father, Lauren, and Lauren’s boyfriend have gone away to visit some of Lauren’s extended family. The only reason Amy got out of it was because she had been on a school trip for the past three days and got home after everyone else had to leave. So she has the house to herself and her mother trusts her not to throw a giant party, namely because Amy would rather have dental surgery without painkillers than have a bunch of kids from school getting drunk in her living room.

On the Friday night, she does have a few people over though: Karma, Shane, Liam, Ivy, some girls from Amy’s classes, and a couple people from her volunteer activities. They order pizza, watch a movie, and play _Dance Dance Revolution._ It’s a pretty successful night, as far as Amy is concerned. Everyone has a good time, everyone was sober, and nothing in the house indicates that Amy had guests. She also tells everyone—except Karma, because duh—to head out by 1am. They spend the last hour playing spin the bottle despite the fact that everyone except Shane, Ivy, and Liam think Amy and Karma are a couple.

It’s a stroke of good luck that every time Karma or Amy spin it happens to land on the other girl.

Four consecutive spins happen before Shane kicks them out of the round, saying they should just get a room already because obviously some supernatural elements are at play if it keeps landing on each other. Karma warns Shane that he sounds like her mother and Shane replies that that’s a compliment because he’s met Karma’s mother and she’s rad.

1am rolls around sooner than they thought it would. Everyone takes garbage and recycling with them as they leave, lingering in the front foyer as they make their goodbyes. Once the house is empty, Amy and Karma are at a loss. They could watch something on Netflix or going on a baking binge in the kitchen. Obviously, the possibilities are endless.

“We could go swimming,” Amy proposes offhandedly, tracing the pattern in the countertop.

The idea entices Karma until she remembers she didn’t pack a swimsuit.

“You could borrow one from Lauren?”

Karma’s answer includes two fingers and Amy didn’t have to look to know which ones they were.

“No one’s home.” Amy muses, resting her chin on her balled up fists.

“Your observational skills are second to none, Sherlock.” Karma replies as she swings open the fridge door in search of something to eat.

“We could go without suits.”

Karma doesn’t even pretend to think the suggestion through before she answers, “Lead the way.”

Five minutes later, Amy and Karma are standing buck naked in Amy’s backyard.

“Is it cold?” Karma wonders aloud, already chilly in the evening air. It’s June already, practically summer. Beside her, Amy grabs her hand and shouts, “why don’t we find out?” only to jump directly into the glistening clear water.

 _“AMY, YOU BITCH!”_ Karma curses because _holy fuck, who does that??_

Head thrown back in laughter, Amy turns to her drenched friend and very mockingly asks, “Is it too cold?”

Pushing wet strands of hair out of her face, Karma lurches towards Amy. “I’m going to get you for that, Raudenfeld.”

Breaking into a breast stroke, Amy manages to keep herself from ingesting any water while calling back, “You’re going to have to catch me first!”

Eventually Karma does catch up to her and yes, Amy appreciates how fitting that is. Grabbing at Amy, Karma bobs in the water. She assumes she kissed Amy first but it’s hard to remember when all she can think about is the fact that she is wet and warm and wrapped around her best friend, fake girlfriend. They’re kissing for a while and Amy’s breasts are round and heaving and feel incredible pressed up against Karma’s breasts. It’s an entirely new sensation that erodes Karma’s mind entirely. She can’t remember her own name, doesn’t know anything more than how perfect Amy feels.

They only get out of the water when they start to notice their skin getting all pruney.

 

**26.**

Karma’s appendix bursts and the nurses won’t let Amy see her until the day after her surgery.

She comes back ridiculously early the next morning and befriends a compassionate nurse, who says it’s okay if she hangs out with Karma’s room as long as she doesn’t disrupt Karma or the hospital staff in anyway. It was 7am when she bussed to the hospital and it’s not until 10am that Karma wakes up.

“Karm,” Amy breathes in a combination of gratefulness and fear. “You up?”

“Yeah,” she replies drowsily. “That you, Aims?”

Amy stutters her answer, too busy trying to blink away her tears to care about how stupid she probably sounds. “Yeah. Are you okay?”

“Everything hurts.”

“1 to 10?”

“15.”

 _Oh God, oh God._ Amy feels like she’s going to need a nurse in a second. Karma has never been able to handle pain—physical, anyway—and she looks so pale under the awful hospital fluorescents. She must have been in such terrible pain and her mother was probably so scared. Amy wishes she had been there when it happened but she knows she wouldn’t have been able to do anything to alleviate her friend’s pain. Seeing Karma exhausted, hooked up to machines, tears Amy apart in the worst possible way.

“I’ll get you a nurse.”

“Wait!”

Karma stops her by grasping Amy’s wrist. Her eyes are closed, lips parted. She looks so different in a hospital gown.

“Stay with me.”

“You need a doctor or a nurse or something. Let me get someone and then _we’ll-we’ll—”_

“Aims,” Karma means it to sound patient but it only comes out pained. _“Please.”_

It’s only one syllable but it takes the fight out of Amy, who sinks in to the hospital mattress. Leaning down, she brushes their lips together, feels Karma exhale softly at the contact. Her cheeks are wet but she isn’t sure if those are her tears or Karma’s.

_“I love you.”_

 

**27.**

“I can’t believe I have to go camping with the family for a whole week; no Internet, no cell phone. I’m going to be completely cut off from the world. I might as well go live in a pioneer village!” Karma whines as she forces yet another outfit into her suitcase. Meanwhile, Amy is sorting through all the crap in Karma’s closet, which she hasn’t cleaned in forever.

“Do you even care you’re going to be without my glorious presence for eight entire days?”

Amy hears Karma, acknowledges her with an affirming sound, but can’t take her eyes off the folded, nearly faded photograph in her hands. In the picture they’re both seven years old and wearing matching outfits for Twin Day at school. Their grade actually had three sets of twins, none of whom were actually identical, and they all came dressed up with friends rather than their siblings. It’s impossible for Amy to grasp nearly ten years later that they’re the same girls as the ones in the Polaroid. Over her shoulder, Karma is grinning down at the picture.

“Remember when you wore a ponytail for half a year?”

Yes, Amy does, and it’s because Karma had decided to play hairdresser with real scissors and cut a giant chunk out and the only way to hide it was for Amy’s mother to put her hair in a permanent ponytail.

“I think that’s when your mother started hating me.”

“Trust me, she has a lot better reasons to hate you.”

Karma knocks Amy’s shoulder, “Who pissed in your Cheerios?”

Ignoring her, Amy folds the picture closed, tucks it in the pocket of her overalls. “Remember when you dared Lucy Tremblay to eat an earwig?”

“Oh God, I did didn’t I?”

“Yeah and she did it.”

“Well she never backed down from a challenge I’ll give her that much.”

They spend the rest of the afternoon cleaning out all of Karma’s bedroom and packing for her outdoor excursion. Amy stays for dinner, which she and Karma and Karma’s mom all make from scratch. Salad and pasta and homemade bread. They’re eating in the backyard while Karma’s mother tends the garden in the front yard, talking about what the Ashcroft’s have planned for their trip and what Amy’s going to do while they’re gone.

“Eat, sleep, Netflix, repeat.” Amy is not a complicated girl, she’s pleased with the little things in life like Internet browsing and eating until she can’t comfortably move. “I have volunteering Monday and Wednesday, and Ivy invited me to the movies Thursday for this documentary double screening that sounds really cool.”

“Don’t have too much fun with me,” Karma teases but Amy sees the smallest trace of truth in her eye.

“Are you kidding? What kind of craziness am I going to get into without my partner in crime?”

With a lopsided smile, Karma turns towards Amy and presses a kiss to her lips, effectively taking away some of the mustard dotting the corner of her mouth.

“Food goes in your mouth, not around it.”

“Are you sure you’re only leaving for a week? What about two? Or a month!”

_“Haha, you’re so funny.”_

 

**28\. + 29. + 30.**

To celebrate Karma’s triumphant return to the 21st century, she and Amy go out for dinner.

It’s a nice place, as in nicer than Denny’s but there are no string quartets hanging around their table. Amy orders them sparkling apple juice and they fill up on bread even though they both know they better. They split their two entrees between them, eating off the other’s plate or taking bites from each other’s forks. Everything tastes amazing but that may just be because Karma has been eating “camp food” all week and literally anything would be preferable. After dinner they start walking because the restaurant is not too far away from Amy’s house and it’s such a beautiful evening anyway.

They make an unplanned detour through their old grade school where they hang upside down on the jungle gym, reminiscing and talking about the present and talking about the future and about random threads of conversation in between. From there they carry on to a little pond where they sit and huddle close because Karma didn’t bring a jacket, thinking it wasn’t fancy enough for the restaurant they ate at. They also hands but that’s not really because it’s breezy out. At the pond they kiss once, taking the time to explore one another. When they walk the rest of the way back to Amy’s, they stop at the end of her driveway and kiss once because they think they’re saying goodbye until Amy invites Karma inside and they end up kissing in the kitchen while her parents are at a friend’s barbeque and Lauren is out with friends.

“If this is what happens every time I leave I better take more trips.” Karma kids, her lips swollen and smiling.

Amy grins back and drops her forehead against Karma’s, “Don’t you dare.”

 

**31.**

For Karma’s birthday Amy plans a party.

She’s not a party person herself but she knows Karma would get a kick out of it and really, it is her special day (or in this case, her special weekend). Of course, she still does the tried and true scavenger hunt but she saves that for a different day. Amy and Shane make use of the space at his house and they invite a bunch of people over to hold a roast for Karma. Everyone is in hysterics and Karma drinks up the attention and the love, feeling lighter than she thinks she ever has. She tells Amy it’s the best birthday party ever but yeah, she’s excited to celebrate her birthday with just Amy too and that admission leaves Amy with heart palpitations.

On her actual birthday, Karma does her birthday present scavenger hunt (collects 16 gifts for 16 years) and lets Amy take her on a picnic for lunch where they have her favourite meal complete with desert.

“Oh, I almost forgot your last gift.”

 _More?_ Karma thinks. This weekend has already been so incredible far beyond what she’d ever imagine. It’s too much and she says so, tries to be appreciative but firm that really, everything is perfect already.

“I already got 16 gifts.” She points out. “You’re spoiling me rotten, Aims.”

“It’s nothing,” Amy argues as she fishes a small baggie out of her purse.

When she hands it to Karma though, she knows it’s not nothing. Undoing the drawstrings, Karma shakes loose the contents of the little bag into the palm of her hand. It’s a silver necklace chain with a matching silver heart pendant on it. On the back of the heart there is an indentation of: _07-09-04_

“The day we met,” Amy offers as way of explanation as if Karma needed on. “The first day of school ten years ago.”

She knows that date better than her own birthday. Karma wants to say so, tell her how much she loves this gift and, of course, how much she loves Amy. But again all those words are lodged in her throat and she can barely breathe let alone speak.

“This is perfect,” she finally expresses when she can manage it. “Thank you so much, Aims.”

Amy is insistent in her belief that it was “nothing” but she’s smiling too so Karma knows she’s glad the gift was well received. Then, with her heart in her hand, she cups Amy’s cheek and pours all the words she wants to say into one drugging kiss.

 

**32\. + 33. + 34.**

The necklace becomes a permanent fixture in Karma’s wardrobe.

She wears it every day and only takes it off to shower or sleep or cheerleading in case it flies away during a roundoff back handspring or something equally acrobatic. Amy doesn’t say anything about it although she beams whenever she hears someone compliment Karma on her choice in jewelry. Shamelessly, she always slings her arm around Amy and says, “Amy picked it out actually” with all the pride she can muster.

It’s just another school day: Amy and Karma bus to school together, walk to class together, depart with the promise of seeing each other next period. They make it through their morning classes and meet up for lunch. Since all of this started little more than a year ago, Karma and Amy have found themselves a niche in their own social circle made up of Shane, Liam, Ivy, a few of Karma’s friends from cheerleading and dance crew, a few of Amy’s friends from the school’s social justice team and Student Government. They’re all hanging out, swapping items from respective lunches, and bouncing conversation back and forth until the bell rings for next period. The afternoon drags on for approximately a thousand years before the final bell sends students rushing towards the exits. Amy has a Student Government meeting after school and Karma has cheer practice so they meet up afterward on the edge of the football field.

Amy’s meeting ended early so she’d waited for Karma to finish her routine and cool down activities in captivation. Those skirts were cruel. Amazing and wonderful and cruel. As Karma bounds up to her, all sweaty with her ponytail flying behind her, Amy can’t help but be a smartass about it.

“I didn’t know you could split your thighs so wide, Malibu Barbie.”

“And how was Student Government, you big sell out.”

This isn’t necessarily true—they both know it too—because Amy only joined Student Government by default by being president of the social justice team. They needed a representative to help run all the social justice events at school and make sure they had funding for trips and guest speakers and such so Amy was elected by the team to be theirs. Ever since Amy’s been forced to sit through biweekly meetings while Lauren presides over the meetings as the events representative.

“Sell out? You’re the one who joined the pompom squad!”

“I’ll have you know cheerleading is a very respectable sport.”

It’s a lot harder than Karma makes it seem, Amy knows that but she loves teasing Karma about it anyway. “I’ll take your word for it.”

“You’re coming this weekend, right?”

Amy has had Karma’s regional cheer show thing circled on her calendar for weeks now and almost weekly, Karma asks if she’s still coming. It’s a big deal for her not just because she’s got social standing now but cheer is important to her. She’s physically challenged and she’s surrounded by a ton of new energy—which her mom tells her is the best thing for her right now because of the placement of the moon or something that Karma doesn’t quite remember—and she looks really good in her uniform so that doesn’t hurt either.

“Is that _this_ weekend?” She’s pulling Karma’s leg but Amy’s sense of humour earns her a jab to the ribs all the same.

“You’re coming if I have to strap you to the roof of the bus or shove you in my duffel bag.”

“You’re all talk, Ashcroft.” And before Karma can argue otherwise, Amy swoops down and pecks her on the lips.

When she pulls back her eyes are the same glorious colour they’ve always been and her smile is the same one Karma’s been looking at for the last eleven years and one stupid little kiss shouldn’t make Karma’s mind split off like the spokes of a spider web but it does, it does, oh God, it does.

“32.” Karma mutters, her gaze jumping from Amy’s lips to her eyes on a loop. It probably looks like she’s having a stroke but really she can’t believe it. 32 times.

“32 what?” Amy asks, pressing her lips together.

“Kisses.”

Amy repeats the word simply, a bit awkwardly, “Kisses.”

“We’ve kissed 32 times.” Karma confirms, her head spinning and all those words tangled up in the bottom of her throat are starting to spill out, all at once and out of control. It’s like opening floodgates; once it’s started it can’t be stopped. All she can see is Amy staring right back at her, looking stunned, the very picture of _‘we’re talking about this now???!!?’_

“You kept track?” Amy’s voice is barely a whisper, it’s so quiet that Karma thinks she maybe didn’t hear her right. But she’s searching Karma’s face for an answer so she must have, she must have said it.

And then, because she’s really fucking stupid and she’s going to need her foot surgically removed from her mouth, Karma nods and whispers back, “Is that weird?”

Mutely, Amy shakes her head, gold hair catching in the wind. “32 times? Really?”

“Yeah, can you believe it?”

“No,” because honestly Amy can’t believe. She lost track after the time they practiced in Karma’s bed. She lost track because she had been so determined to remember every other little detail (how many freckles Karma had on her shoulder, the way her lashes dipped down when her eyelids fell shut, her voice when she said Amy’s name after they’d been so, so close). “I can’t believe you remembered.”

An apology bubbles off of Karma’s lips, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything. I didn’t mean to, I just don’t know when to shut up and then I do shit like this and yeah, I’m sorry.”

Wait, what? Why is Karma apologizing? Amy steps forward, places her hands on her friend’s arms.

“Can I kiss you again?”

Karma looks at Amy like she just grew a second head. “You want to kiss me?”

It’s probably inappropriate but Amy laughs anyway, “I’ve kissed you 32 times before, why are you surprised now, you huge doofus?”

“Don’t call me a doofus, doofus.”

“I’m going to kiss you now, okay?”

“Okay.”

Dropping her over the shoulder duffel to the ground, Karma moves her hands to Amy’s hips. She squeezes them when she feels Amy slip her tongue inside her mouth, pushes them under her top when Amy nips at her lip. Karma only pulls away when she feels all those words coming back up again.

“Can we be girlfriends?”

“I thought we were?” Amy jokes. “I mean that was kind of the point of all this wasn’t it?”

Right, that whole pretend lesbian thing. Okay so Karma’s foot is shoved in her mouth again, whatever. Amy should know what she means. Still, Karma tries again.

“I want to be your _girlfriend_ girlfriend though, I want to kiss you for real.”

“As opposed to all those fake kisses?” Amy intones like the total smartass she is.

Karma huffs a fondly annoyed (and why do those two words always come up when she thinks of Amy? Probably because she’s impossible and Karma loves her).

“I don’t want an excuse to kiss you, I just want to do it. I want to kiss you a hundred times, I want to kiss you until I lose count.”

Flushed and grinning like a huge dork, Amy tugs Karma closer. “Can we start now?”

 _Finally,_ Karma thinks as she closes the space between them, which is only half the distance since Amy is inching forward too.

_Number 34._

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading and have a beautiful day!


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